The Olympic Peninsula was largely an uninvestigated region for settlers until the explorations of Lieutenant Joseph O'Neil and Judge James Wickersham in the 1880s and 1890s. At the time, the American frontier was quickly closing and there was increased recognition of the need for a conservation plan to protect the remaining wilderness. The rise of the preservationist movement in the early 1890s, led by individuals such as John Muir, called for the government to take greater care of land which was quickly being usurped for personal and commercial interests.

In 1891, Congress passed the Forest Reserve Act, allowing the president to set aside parcels of forested land as public reservations regardless of their commercial value. Within the year, President Harrison created 15 reserves encompassing 13 million acres of land including the addition of land to the Yellowstone National Park, already established by President Ulysses Grant in 1872.

On February 22, 1897, President Cleveland added another 13 reserves, this time including the Olympic Forest Reserve-a title changed to the Olympic National Forest in 1907. The Reserve spanned two-thirds of the Olympic Peninsula, from Hood Canal to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and extending south for 60 miles down the ocean coast. Cleveland’s proclamation allowed any previous legal claims to continue but prohibited further entry or settlement. This gave rise to protest among homesteaders already in the area and those with grazing, mining, logging, and agricultural interests who immediately demanded that the proclamation be rescinded. However, the protests were unsuccessful and the reserve remained in place. It was followed by the Forest Management Act which established laws for the preservation and protection of the forests along with timber and occupancy policies.

With the election of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901, the preservation of natural resources took a high priority on the national agenda. Roosevelt was part of a growing movement that embraced the rising popularity of outdoor recreation and appreciation for nature. Clubs embracing these principles formed nationwide in the late 1800s and early 1900s; such as the National Audubon Society (established in 1886), the John Muir’s Sierra Club (established in 1892), Oregon’s Mazamas (established in 1894), and the Seattle Mountaineers (established in 1906). The Mountaineers were especially vocal supporters of the movement to create an Olympic National Park because their frequent climbs in the Olympics.

During his time in office, Roosevelt established 13 new forest reserves. Efforts continued to turn the Olympic Forest Reserve into a national park to protect both the environment and the Olympic elk residing there. There were growing numbers of reports detailing the relentless hunting of the elk and many feared that the species would follow in the footsteps of the bison and become extinct. Multiple bills were introduced by Washington State Representative William Humphrey to establish a protected area for the elk but none were successful.

In 1906, Congress passed the Antiquities Act, allowing the president to protect areas that were deemed of historic or prehistoric importance with the creation of a national monument. A more open interpretation of the Act also included areas and species of natural or geological importance. During Roosevelt’s final days in office in 1909, Representative Humphrey, approached him with a proposal to create an Olympic National Monument to protect the elk and the environment-Roosevelt consented and signed Proclamation No. 869 into law, setting aside 610,560 acres of land for the monument. Protest arose once again when the public learned that the monument was closed to commercial interests. Many petitioned to abolish the Monument and return the land back to a national forest or establish a national park where commercial interests were allowed.

In 1915, conceding to the protests and mindful of the increasing need for timber with the advent of World War I, President Wilson reduced the Monument by half. This reduction eliminated protection for a large portion of the forest along with the elks’ natural habitat. Following the 1915 reduction, the momentum behind the creation of a national park waned for over a decade.

Interest in the park renewed in 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt transferred responsibility for the monuments and reserves, along with other government protected areas, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The move gave conservationists hope and they reinvigorated their efforts to establish an Olympic National Park. In response, the National Park Service sent four experts to the region to conduct a survey of the area, all of whom returned in support of a national park. Still, competing parties could not come to a consensus over the area that the park would include. Roosevelt visited the Olympic Peninsula in 1937 to resolve the matter, bringing together a group of the disagreeing individuals at Lake Crescent Lodge. With Roosevelt’s support, the new bill for the creation of the Olympic National Park finally passed in 1938.